Sand-box for street-cars



(No Model.) 5 v F. C. MURRAY.

SAND BOX FUR STREET GARS.

No. 552,922. Patented Jan. 14, 1896.

Jzly.

gif ATTORNEY.

ANDREW B GRAHAM4 Phovu-LFMUWASHIMGYUWD C UNITED STATES- PATENT GFFICE.

FRANK C. MURRAY, OFBOSTON, ASSIGNOR OF TWO-THIRDS TO TALTER H. PULSIFER, OF NATICK, AND VILLAM H. BINGHAM, OF VALTHAM,

MASSACHUSETTS.

SAN D-BOX FOR STREET-CARS.

SPECFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 552,922, dated January 14, 1896.

Application l'lled December 26, 1894. Serial No. 532,9128. (No model.)

T @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK C. MURRAY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Sand- Boxes for Street-Cars, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to sand-boxes for ro street-cars-as cars drawn by animals or driven by motors carried thereon-and is adapted to prevent the sand within the box from freezing by constant agitation of the sand within said box; to prevent the sand from be- I 5 inglodged or wedged in the delivery-tube, and to enable said tube to be cleared of any ice that maybe formed therein; to deliver the sand from the box above the pile of sand in the box, thus allowing the box to be supported below the floor of thc car without mutilation of the car-body, while securing a sufficient fall for the sand and enabling the valve of the sand-box to bc placed above the sand, where it will not become clogged by the sand, allowing a waste of sand and rendering the box useless until the box is refilled; to prevent the lifting-tubes from being stopped by the sand, by making the slit through which the sand enters each of said tubes narrower than the discharge-ends of said tubes; and the said invention consists inthe devices and combinations hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of an end portion of a carbody, including the platform and dasher, a part of the truck, and my improvement applied thereto; Fig. 2, a plan of aV part'of the truck, part of the platform, and my improvement; Fig. 3, a vertical central longitudinal section, transversely of the car, on the line 3 3 in Fig. 2, of the sand-box and deliverytube; Fig. 4, an elevation of the outer end of the sand-box and of the delivery-tube, the upper part of the outer side of the tube being removed; Figs. 5 and 6,' vertical transverse sections of the sand-box on the lines 5 5 and G G, respectively, in Fig. 3, the valve being drawn as closed in all the figures where said. valve is shown, except in Fig. 5, where said valve is represented as open, said valve not being shown in Fig. 6; Fig. 7, a vertical central longitudinal section of the sleeve and clutch and a front elevation of a part of the axle.

The car-body A, platform a., d asher a, step a2, truck B, truck-frame b, axle b', and wheels b2 are all of the usual construction and operation, said car-body being elastically supported on said truck-frame by interposed springs C, in the usual manner.

The sand-box proper, D, is preferably supported by moans of brackets E E on the crossgirt b3 of the truck-frame l), and consists of a hollow cylinder d, preferably of sheet metal, and two headsd d2, preferably of cast-iron, provided on their inner surfaces with annular flanges d3 di, which enter the ends of the cylinder d and are secured therein by friction or other convenient means, as by rivets d5. The head d has a central arbor d, ca-st thereon or otherwise rigidly secured thereto, which turns in a journal-box e, with which the corresponding bracket E is provided, and the head d2 is provided with a hollow cylindrical hub (Z7 which turns in a corresponding seinicircular opening in the top of the bracket E', a portion of said bracket forming the back of the hopper-shaped upper portion f of the deliverytube F, and the front, sides and top of said hopper being in a separate piece f', cap or cover, secured, as by bolts or screws f3, to said bracket E', and the tube F, below said hopper, being represented as cast in one piece with said bracket E.

The head d has secured thereto, or preferably cast thereon, a sprocket-wheel (ZS, and another sprocket-wheel g is loose on the adjacent car-axle b, but is prevented from end- Wise movement thereon by a collar g, formed in halves g2 g3 secured to each other by bolts g4, in such a manner as to clasp said axle iirmly, said collar g having a central internal enlargement g5 and an internal annular groove g to receive the correspondinglylanged hub g7 of the sprocket-Wheel g, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2. The wheels d8 g are connected by a chain I.

The sprocket-wheel g forms one counterpart of a clutch G, (represented as a friction IOO or cone clutch,) the other counterpart gs of said clutch being a collar which slides on the axle b' and is prevented from turning thereon by a spline gg or key on said axle, in an obvious manner, said counterpart g8 having an annular groove g10 to receive one end of a lever H, pivoted at 7i on the cross-girt h5 and extending under the platform a, nearly to the end thereof. A leaf-spring h is secured to the front end of said lever H and extends up through a slotted plate h2, secured in a hole in the platform, and terminates above said plate in a head h3 which may be pressed by the foot of the motorman or driver to throw said spring out of either of the notches Ztl h5 at the end of the slot h6 of said plate h2, to allow the said lever H to be moved (by the foot) in such a manner as to couple or uncouple the clutch G.` The clutch is represented as closed in Fig. 2. The lever H is formed in two parts ZLT las, jointed to each other at 709 in such a manner as to allow the part of said lever which carriessaid spring h to rise and fall as the car-body rocks on the truck B without breaking said lever or lifting the other end of said lever out of engagement with the clutch counterpart g8.

The sand, gravel, salt or other material intended to be thrown on the rails is introduced into the sand-box or cylinder through the door CZ9 which turns on hinges Zw and is fastened by a latch or button (ZU in an obvious manner.

lVithin the cylinder D are arranged buckets J which, as said cylinderis revolved, raise the sand or other material above the center of said cylinder and drop said sand upon an inclined surface which causes the sand to be projected through the central opening (Z12 of the hub CZT into the hopper or upper partf of the delivery-tube F, by which said sand or other material is directed upon the rail.

The buckets J are represented as tubes, each pivoted between ears j jj, cast on or otherwise Vsecured to the inner face of the head CZ, and each slotted at ,7 from end to end, on the side of the tube next the curved wall of the cylinderD, so that, as said cylinder is revolved, the tubes are carried below the sand, where they are iilled, and are then raised above the level of the sand in said receiver. The buckets being raised to a sufficientheight by the rotation of the cylinder, their unsupported ends fall toward the center of the cylinder and strike upon a stationary cam K, arranged just within the end of said cylinder and supported upon an arm 7o, secured to the bracket CZ and curved around through the opening CP2, (see Figs. 3 to 6,) said cam being of such a shape that, as the cylinder continues to revolve, the tubes are successively crowded back toward their normal positions at the sides of said cylinder and passing below the cam are forced below the surface of the sand, keeping the sand constantly stirred up and thereby and by the slight heat generated by the friction of particles of sand on the tubes and on each other preventing the sand from freezing. Then any tube falls upon the top of the cam, the inclination of the tube (see the upper tube in Fig. 3) and the shock causes the material contained in such tube to slide out of the lower free end of the tube, the slot j of the tube being at this time at the top of said tube. Vhen the tubes are below the sand-level, they are held out of actual contact with the body of the cylinder by the flange CZ of the head (Z2, so that there is sufficient space for the sand between each tube and said body to admit the sand freelyand, the slot being comparatively narrow, the wall of the tube at the sides of said slot acts as a scraper to loosen up the sand. j

In fair weather, as in the summer, the clutch G will ordinarily be left open, but in slippery weather the clutch may` remain closed. Then the clutch is closed andthe cylinder is rotating, the sand may be prevented from escaping by a valve L, of the shape shown in Figs. 3 to 5, pivoted atZ on the cam K and having a notch Z to admit the arm k when said valve is closed, as shown in Fig. 4t, and said valve being arranged justinside the head Z2 and between said head and said cam. lVhen the valve is closed, as shown in Fig. 3, and the cylinder is rotating', the buckets or tubes merely serve as lagitators, raising the rvsand and discharging it against the inner face of the valve, so that the sand from said buckets or tubes yfalls back into said cylinder. Zhen the valve is open, some of the sand would fall from the ends of the tubes back into the cylinder were it not for a short trough-shaped incline or chute M, east or otherwise secured on the lower edge of said valve, and when said valve is open or turned ninety degrees into the position shown in Fig. 5, arranged in the same vertical plane with the tube or bucket which at the time beingis discharging but a little below said tube'and extending from the front face of said valve back under the discharge end of said discharging tube or bucket, the momentum of the discharged sand being sufficient to carry it into said chute and from said chute into the flaring central opening dlg of the hub CZT and thence into the hopper f. The pivot Z of the valve is a crank connected by a rod Z2 to one arm Z3 of a bell-crank lever Z4, fulerumed on a stand Z5 secured to the under side of the platform a, and a vertical pedalrod ZG passes down through a hole in said platform and is jointed to the other arm Z7 of said lever Z4, so that the motormanby pressing with his foot upon the top or enlarged head ZS of said pedal-rod, may open said valve. lVhen the pressure is removed from said pedal-rod, said pedal-rod is raised by a spring Z9, represented as a spiral spring' surrounding said pedal-rod and compressed between said head Z8 and the platform a.

As a still further precaution against the freezing of the material in the cylinder, said IOO IIO

cylinder is covered with a material which is a poor conductor of heat, as paper, (Z13, Fig. 3.

I claim as my inventionl. rlhe combination of a sand receiver, adapted to be supported by a car and having a central opening in one end thereof, means for rotating the same, an incline, arranged to project sand placed thereon from said opening, and buckets, secured on the inside of said receiver and adapted to raise the sand in said receiver and to discharge the same upon said incline, as and for the purpose specified.

2. rlhe combination of a sand-receiver, adapted to be supported by a car and having a central opening in one end thereof, means for rotating the same, an incline, arranged to project sand placed thereon from said opening, buckets, secured on the inside of said receiver and adapted to raise the sand in said receiver and to discharge the same upon said incline, and a discharge-tube, to receive sand from said incline and to deliver the same upon a rail of the track of said car, as and for the purpose specified.

The combination of a sand-receiver, adapted to be supported by a car and having a central opening in one end thereof, means for rotating the same, an incline, arranged to pro* ject sand placed thereon from said opening, and tubes, pivoted to the end of said cylinder farthest from said opening, and having longitudinal slots to receive sand contained Within said receiver, and a stationary cam to support the free ends of said tubes While discharging and to restore the same to position to be again filled, as and for the purpose specified.

4. The combination of a sand-receiver or cylinder having an opening in one end there of, a sprocket-Wheel, fast thereon, a car-axle, another sprocket-Wheel, carried by said axle, a chain, connecting said Wheels, an incline, adapted to project sand placed thereon through said opening, and buckets, arranged on the inside of said cylinder and rotating therewith and adapted to raise sand in said cylinder and to discharge the same upon said incline, as and for the purpose specied.

5. The combination of a sand-receiver or cylinder having an opening in one end thereof, a sprocket-Wheel, fast thereon, a car-axle, another sprocket-Wheel, loose on said axle and forming one counterpart of a clutch, another clutch-counterpart, a lever, engaging one of said counterparts, and adapted to be moved to close said clutch, a chain, connecting said Wheels, an incline, adapted to project sand placed thereon through said opening, and buckets, arranged on the inside of said cylinder and rotating therewith and adapted to raise sand in said cylinder and to discharge the same upon said incline, as and for the purpose specified.

6. A sand-box, rotary on a horizontal axis and having a discharge opening in the end thereof and a valve, arranged to open and close said opening and turning in a vertical plane upon a stationary center, as and for the purpose specified.

7. The combination of a sand-receiver, adapted to be supported by a car and having a central opening in one end thereof, means for rotating the same, a valve, arranged to open and close said opening, a trough, secured to said valve and adapted to be brought into operative position by the opening of said valve, and buckets, secured on the inside of said receiver and adapted to raise the sand in said receiver and to discharge the same upon said trough, as and for the purpose specified.

In Witness whereof I have signed this specification, in the presence of two attesting Witnesses, this th day of December, A. D. 1894.

FRANK C. MURRAY.

Vitnesses:

ALBERT M. MOORE, KIRKLEY HYDE. 

